Correctional Officer Blocks Narcotic Delivery Hidden in Tomato Sauce

A plot to infiltrate narcotics into a New York state prison was foiled recently when a corrections officer used an X-Ray machine to inspect a USPS package. The package was sent to the Cayuga Correctional Facility in Moravia on July 25 and addressed to an inmate at the facility.

The corrections officer, who was not named, received the USPS Priority box which contained two 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce. Upon inspection, the officer noticed that the cans appeared to have been tampered with and had a build-up of glue along the seams which were also indented. Further inspection with an X-Ray machine showed unidentified objects within the cans of Goya Tomato Sauce.

The officer immediately opened the suspicious looking cans, finding two balloons immersed in each of the cans of sauce. Further investigation showed that each balloon held packets of Suboxone, a prescription medicine used in the treatment of opiod addiction in adults. Each packet held a dosage of 10MG of the drug with a total of 60 packets found within the two cans.

New York State Correctional Officers Police Benevolent Associations Western Region Vice President, Joe Miano, said that inmates continue to find ways to sneak contraband into correctional facilities. “Correctional facilities are inherently dangerous workplaces for our officers, and becoming more dangerous every year as assaults, gang violence and contraband hit record levels,” he said.

In a statement Miano thanked the alertness of the officer in stopping the narcotics from entering the facility. He also said that his association continues to advocate for additional staffing and more comprehensive technology to fight this growing concern.

Correctional facilities around the country are updating their procedures to reduce the amount of contraband coming in each year. Some updates include changes to visitation policies, additional surveillance equipment and increased strip searches.